In Search of the Self (Feminist Art)

In Search of the Self (Feminist Art)

Report by Lucinda (L6) - 

On Friday 15 March, we had a lecture titled ‘Searching for the Self,’ presented by Kate Courtney-Taylor. This lectured focused on feminist art throughout history with elements of psychology. Kate explained that she became interested in learning about herself through art and to understand the female.

We learned about Pagan Polytheism which is where there are multiple Gods such as a God for sun or a God for water, Kate explained that this focuses on the feminist power as historically humanity focused on the power of Mother Earth. Further through the timeline of history, during the Ancient Greeks, the imbecility and instability of the sex was the main focus for societies. For example, Kate explained that the word hysteria or female hysteria is derived from the Greek word ‘hystera’ which means uterus. Kate explored depictions of women throughout history in art, specifically during the beginning of Christianity, where art focused on Virgin Mary had become very common. We learned about an influential feminist writer, Christine de Pizan, who wrote some of the first feminist pieces of literature. Christine de Pizan broke away from traditional roles assigned to women and wrote in a non-confrontational style about what things could be like for women if they created a city on their own.

Kate spoke about stereotypes surrounding women throughout history, specifically how men perceived women. One astounding quote stood out to Kate which was written by Charles Darwin: ‘through natural selection, man had become superior to woman in courage, energy, intellect and inventive genius.’ Kate also explained that World War II was a turning point in history for women as they were heavily relied upon, doing ‘male’ tasks and the government wanted to repopulate after the loss of lives during the war. It was interesting to learn about the growth of female artists after World War II as prior to this, female artists were not very diverse and mostly focused on female beauty. One interesting artist was Judy Chicago who was an important icon of 1970s feminist art. Judy Chicago created ‘The Dinner Party’ comprised of 39 table settings for important women in history. Kate described this as confrontational but necessary as it gave these females a voice at the table. Kate then focused on other female artists who used elements of abstract to speak up about periods and sex. It was important to see that art is used to make people have a greater understanding of themselves.

In the final part of the lecture, Kate spoke about her personal journey through life. An influential figure for Kate was the female artist, Louise Bourgeois. Louis Bourgeois explored themes related to sexuality and the body, and even challenged traditional notions of femininity. Kate explained that she wanted to talk about what cannot be ignored anymore. For her, having a baby was a turning point as she spoke about connections between the past and present. She took a leap and wanted to do something meaningful for herself. This led Kate to study at Chelsea College of Arts where she obtained a degree in ceramics and glass. She showed us her beautiful final piece and explained that artists should recognise the journey and that not everything will be perfect. It was interesting to hear about her psychological studies where Kate focused on trauma. She explained that identity can be fragmented in order to deal with a situation and some people with trauma do not feel as linked with society as others. Kate poignantly said, ‘trauma results in strength, pain results in beauty.’ Kate concluded by speaking about people who inspire her such as Louise Bourgeois, Marina Warner and Käthe Kollwitz, stating that ‘feminism is nuanced rather than definitive.’